


The mysterious magician

by Readerstories



Series: The Arcana x reader [1]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: M/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-29 05:24:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20429858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Readerstories/pseuds/Readerstories
Summary: A slightly alternative universe:You are not the apprentice, but a powerful traveling magician that sweeps through town during the yearly masquerade; and catches Lucio's eye





	The mysterious magician

The yearly masquerade in Vesuvia is big event every year. People travel from all over to come and experience the sight and wonders of it all. Many just come as they please, others are invited, invited into the castle and the presence of the count and countess. Many strive for the opportunity, and the list keeps getting bigger, and yet more exclusive every year.

To say Lucio is proud of himself would be an understatement. The whole masquerade is made by him, for him, so of course it's great. There are new people to meet and get entertained by every year, some that even make it into his (and sometimes Nadia's) bed. During every masquerade Lucio is having the time of his life, tonight being no exception. He bounces between people and conversation, just enjoying himself. 

He does not know where Nadia is, neither does he care. Doctor Julian is around somewhere, as well as that annoying magician Nadia likes so much. He does not care much for either tonight, but makes a mental note that they are here. Not being here would be an insult, not only to him, but to all of Vesuvia. Who would ever pass up a great party like this?

He is having a good time, when he spots someone he has never seen before. He is not good with name, but he remembers faces quite well. It's a good idea to know if a person is your enemy, friend, lover or just a servant, as he has many of each. The new person is is clad in black clothes with golden patterns all over and with a matching mask. His body, his posture, his hair, and his face, what Lucio can see behind the black and gold mask is alluring. He spots the magician, Asra, walk by, and grabs him by his collar. He knows surprisingly many people and is good with names, so he might know this person.

"Do you know that man over there?" Lucio points to you, surprised to see a fond smile spread over Asra's face when he sees you.

"Yes, I actually do." Asra pushes Lucio's hand off his collar, which Lucio let's go of for now. He gives Lucio your name and continue speaking.

"I met him a few years ago, traveled with him for a while before we parted ways. He is always on the road, so I am glad he came."

"You are glad he came? It sounds like you invited him." Lucio scoffs. Asra ignores it.

"I didn't, Nadia did, after she asked me for suggestions for her part of the guest list. I'm surprised he even got the invitation, he never stays long in one place."

"I guessed as much from your earlier statement. What does he even do?" Asra gives Lucio a weird look. This is perhaps the longest Lucio have ever talked to him, and it's even about another person except from himself. He's not even looking Asra, but at you the whole time.

"He's a magician like me. Well, mostly."

"Mostly?" Lucio turns to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm small compared to him, he is very... powerful to put it that way." Lucio grins, feeling even more interested, and claps his hands together.

"Well, you must introduce us, come on." He grabs Asra by the shoulder this time, and half pushes him forward towards you. Asra doesn't even try to protest, he knows how Lucio can be when he sets his mind to something. When they get close enough, Lucio pushes Asra forward, hard enough that he stumbles and falls into you. 

You are quick to catch him, ready to give this person who fell onto you a real earful, but you stop when you see your friend and former travel companion Asra. 

"Asra, my old friend! Good to see you again after all this time!" Asra rights himself, giving you a smile.

"Good to see as well my friend. I see you are doing well."

"As are you, if you are here." Asra can almost hear the non-existent noise of Lucio's patience slipping away, so he doesn't idle for much longer.

"Alas, I did come over to introduce you to someone. Friend, this is Lucio, count of Vesuvia." At his words, Lucio steps forward, grin wide on his face.

"Pleasure to meet you Count Lucio." You do a small bow. When you look up, Lucio catches your eyes. Eyes that are golden like his arm, and almost as striking. 

"Likewise. I hear you travel a lot, so I am glad you could take the time to stop by."

"No trouble at all. When I got the invitation from Countess Nadia I must say I was surprised to invited, before I saw the note that Asra was the one to suggest I was invited." You put a hand on Asra's shoulder and give it a friendly squeeze.

"I hear you are a magician?" 

"That I am. That was why me and Asra traveled together before. To learn from each other is a valuable thing dear Count." Asra lets out a little laugh at your words.

"I doubt you learned much from me, I on the other hand learned many things." Lucio takes the word again before any of you can speak.

"So, you must be good then. As much as I don't like to admit it, Asra is more than a decent magician." Your smile is a mix of cocky, but at the same time coy, which Lucio decides there and then he needs to see more of.

"I hardly use such words about myself, but yes." 

"Then please, show me some tricks." You scoff, not being polite in the slightest.

"Tricks? This is real magic we are talking about Count Lucio." Lucio decides to ignore your rudeness in favour of focusing on how good his name sounds in your mouth.

"Well, show me some magic then." You give him a nod. You lift up your hands, clasping them together. A light shines trough them, and when you open your hands, a small meadow filled with yellow flowers are in your palms. It's small, but before Lucio can say anything, the grass from the meadow expands down both your arms. At your elbows the grass turns into vines. At your shoulders the vines splits into two. One side goes down to wrap around the rest of your body, filling with thorns as they go down your torso and legs. The other part of the split vines turns into two yellow snakes that curl around your throat. Your hair sprouts flowers in the colours of the rainbow. Your face stays clean, while your eyes are constantly shifting colour. Lucio is speechless, as are many others around you. 

"What do you say to that magic trick, Count Lucio?" You clap your hands together loudly, everything except from the snakes around your throat disappearing. The people around you give a small applause, all impressed by your little show. Lucio pretends not to be just as impressed and scoffs.

"Was that all you have?" He can see a glint in your eyes, seeing that you have taken his words as a challenge. Perfect.

"No, it is not. I did what I could with the space I have Count Lucio. The middle of a crowd is not the best place for magic." You tilt your head, face made of stone, daring him to say anything against it. He grins, seeing the bait you have laid out for him.

"I see. I shall give you space then." He turns on his heels, walking up to the nearest guard, starting to give orders to get them to move everyone away from the middle of the floor.

"You spurred him on." Asra pipes up from besides you. You had almost forgotten he was there.

"Well, I could not let him believe my skills as a magician is subpar, could I now my friend?" Asra sighs, so you take his hands in yours, squeezing them and letting a little warmth from them seep through both of your skin.

"Count Lucio is no enemy or someone I wish to be one. He is simply bored royalty that wants some fun. I can give him that for now, cause I like too do so at this moment." Asra looks into your eyes, searching for some untruth. 

"I can not stop you, but I must say that getting involved with Lucio in any capacity is dangerous." 

"Come on old friend, do you not think I can handle him?"

"I know you can." He kisses your intertwined hands, letting go when Lucio appears at your side. Looking behind you, you can see that he has managed to clear a large space in the middle of the floor. The ball room is quieter than before, mostly filled with whispers as they all wonder what is happening.

"The floor is yours, magician." Lucio does a mock bow, you stop yourself from snorting at the sight.

"Thank you Count Lucio." You make your way over with Lucio and Asra right behind you, stepping into the open area. You turn and walk backwards until you are in the middle, stopping and addressing Lucio as loud as you can muster without using magic to amplify your voice.

"What magic would you like to see today dear Count?" Lucio grins from his place in the front of the crowd.

"Something big."

"As you wish, Count Lucio." You nod at him, and with that, you begin.

Spreading your arms out as wide as you can, small blue butterflies appears and take off from your arms. Around your feet, grass sprouts up, spreading out from you to cover the whole floor. Some people gasp and jump when it comes toward them, but the grass simply goes under their feet. The grass closest to you grow taller, reaching your waist and forming a small circle. And then there are animals appearing out from it. 

A small fawn takes a few shaking steps out from the tall grass and people awe. An elk with massive horns steps forward, horns making their way first. A bear, a horse, a lynx, and flying birds soon follow. Next, several rabbits in different shades of black, brown and white are jumping their way into the room. You are still standing in the tall grass, arms outstretched. You put them down, catching Lucio's gaze. Your eyes are your normal gold, but he almost feels electrocuted by them.

He hears the crowd gasp, and tear his eyes away from yours to see what has everyone reacting. When he sees what it is, his eyes widen. There are what seems to be people made from wood stepping out from your circle of grass. They wear no clothes, but they do not seems shy in the slightest. It helps that there are no visible sexual organs. If there where, he is sure some of them more easily shocked people in the crowd would have fainted. The wooden people step around the animals, gathering together, some even dancing to some unheard music. 

Lucio feels a cold snout on his right hand and look down. The lynx is sniffing his hand, he snatches it away from it. It gives him an unimpressed look before trotting off. The snout had felt so real, that for a second Lucio had forgotten that it wasn't. It's just your magic. He looks back to you, and you catch his eyes once more. 

Before he can think or do anything else, a loud screech pierces the air. People slam their hands over their ears at the sudden noise. From your shoulders, two eagles made purely from flames grow. They admit another screech, which makes all the animals turn towards you. They kick of your shoulders, flying up as high as they can under the ceiling. He watches them, admiring their horrid beauty where they circle above them all. 

After a few more seconds, both birds tips forward and dives straight down, into the grass covered floor. The grass is instantly up in flames, and so is the other animals. They scream, and turn into as in a few seconds. The same fate befals the wooden people, gone quicker than they came. Everyone gaps, he can even hear some cry out in fear. He then realises that he can actually feel the heat from the flames. It makes him pale and shift his attention back to you. 

This time, he is the one who gasps. Because there you stand, covered in flames. As he looks on the flames dies down in the room and on you, leaving a thick layer of ash behind in the room. You yourself is a sight. It looks like your skin is cracking, and red light is shining trough. Your clothes are torn and burnt, showing more cracked skin beneath. It looks like you are made of flames. People gasp again and whisper among themselves. Lucio can't take his eyes of you. You grin, giving a bow. 

And with that, all the ash disappear, and you return to normal, clothes and skin whole again.

Thunderous applause abrupt when you straighten yourself up, and you are soon swarmed with people that want to compliment your performance. It takes some time before Lucio can get ahold of you himself. When he does, you give him a grin.

"How was that dear Count Lucio?" He doesn't lie this time.

"Absolutely fantastic. You truly are a wonderful magician."

"Thank you Count Lucio. I count your wishes for magic was fulfilled for the night." 

"They were. But there will be other nights, which is why I wish for you to stay here at the palace. If not as a court magician, at least as a guest for a while." You are shocked that he actually liked it so much that he wanted you to stay, but you hide your surprise behind a calm smile.

"I'll say yes to that, but I warn you, I will not stay for long." Lucio waves a hand at that.

"Sure, yeah, what ever you say." He then spots Nadia, and yells for her to come over. She rolls her eyes, but does walk over to you two.

"Dear wife, let me introduce you to this wonderful magician, the one behind the magic just performed." He gives Nadia your name, and you hers with her title, she humms.

"Yes, I saw that, quite impressive." She reaches out her hand, you take it and give it a kiss on the knuckles.

"He will also be our guest for a while." Lucio informs as he slips an arm around her waist. She lets him for now.

"Is he now?" You look between them, seeing Nadia somewhat tense posture.

"Your husband offered, I could hardly decline." Nadia gives you a smile.

"Hardly not. Now, please, I must say hello to other guests, but I am sure we will see more of each other later."

"I do hope so Countess Nadia." She gives you a smile, before disappearing into the crowd once more. Which leaves you alone with Count Lucio.

"Come, lets get some drinks and talk, and then the servants can prepare a room for you." You let Lucio grab your hand and drag you over to a drink table, not minding really. It's going to be a few interesting weeks at least. 


End file.
